German Regional Airlines

GmbH (; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. It is a ...

& Co. KG, operating under the German Airways brand and formerly named ''WDL Aviation'', is a German

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

and wet lease aircraft operator, headquartered at

Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne Bonn Airport () is an international airport in north-western Germany. It serves the country's fourth-largest city Cologne, as well as Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. With approximately 12.4 million passengers passing through i ...

, and part of the Zeitfracht Group.

History

Initially named ''WDL Flugdienst'', the company was set up in 1974 as a subsidiary of ''Westdeutsche Luftwerbung GmbH'', an

aerial advertising Aerial advertising is a form of advertising that incorporates the use of flogos, manned aircraft, or drones to create, transport, or display, advertising media. The media can be ''static'', such as a banner, logo, lighted sign or sponsorship ...

provider founded in 1955. The current name was adopted in 1991, when the parent was reorganized as ''WDL Group''. With WDL Aviation offering

aircraft lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide ...

and charter services, the aerial advertising and sightseeing flight branch (using

blimp A non-rigid airship, commonly called a blimp (Help:IPA/English, /blɪmp/), is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid airship, semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on th ...

s) survives in the other subsidiary of WDL Group, which is called ''WDL Luftschiff''. Since 1998, the

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Avro International Aerospace manufa ...

is in service with WDL Aviation. Other aircraft types that were operated by WDL Aviation include the

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

and an

Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

on lease from Adria Airways between 1992 and 1993. WDL Aviation was acquired by the Berlin logistics company ''Zeitfracht'' on 1 October 2017. During 2018, WDL Aviation started acquiring BAe 146-300 QT freighter aircraft while planning to replace its

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Avro International Aerospace manu ...

passenger aircraft with newer

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ...

sluchtvaartnieuws.nl - WDL Aviation vernieuwt vloot met Embraer 190
6 December 2018 and received its new brand name ''German Airways'' thereafter. In March 2020, Zeitfracht announced a rebranding for WDL Aviation which is to become German Regional Airlines operating within the ''German Airways'' branding alongside sister company Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter which became the actual, and now defunct, '' German Airways''.airliners.de - "LGW and WDL get new names"
(German) 11 March 2020

Corporate affairs

Ownership and structure

German Regional Airlines is owned by Zeitfracht Group, an owner-managed family business with interests in logistics, aviation and real estate. It has its headquarters in Berlin and over 1,200 employees. German Airways is part of Zeitfracht Aviation, together with the now defunct German Airways Fluggesellschaft mbH, which ran short-lived wet lease operations for

Eurowings Eurowings GmbH is a Germany, German low-cost carrier headquartered in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Founded in 1996, it serves a network of domestic and European destinations and main ...

Business trends

Both German Regional Airlines and the Zeitfracht Group are private companies, and annual reports do not appear to be published. In the absence of these, the little information for German Regional Airlines that appears to be available is:

Fleet

As of January 2024, the German Regional Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:germanairways.com - Fleet
retrieved 6 January 2024

Incidents

* On 25 March 2019,

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

Flight 3271 operated by then WDL Aviation, which took off from

London City Airport London City Airport is an international airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham, Borough of Newham, about east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the two centres ...

enroute to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

but landed in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. BA blamed WDL Aviation for a paperwork error.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wdl Aviation Airlines of Germany Airlines established in 1974 1974 establishments in West Germany Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia Companies based in Cologne German companies established in 1974